5 Months

Once again I am in disbelief that another month has gone by.  Each time a month marker occurs I am extremely grateful that I have been able to watch each moment of both boys development.

The Good: Declan has the most amazing temperament.  Mr. Smiley is really who he is.  He absolutely rolls with the punches and is content to watch the world with a smile on his face.  He LOVES the jumparoo.  We can put him in it for 15 minutes at a time and he bounces and bounces and giggles.  Declan is also happy to cruise around on his tummy.  He is quite interested in toys, much more than Z ever was, and will army crawl to get to whatever has caught his interest.  I will often find him clear across the playroom when I have turned away just for a few moments.  He is really working at his crawling.  He gets both knees under his body and propels himself forward.  As soon as his arms are strong enough to support him then there will be no stopping him.  Declan also loves to watch his brother.  At times he will full on belly laugh at something Z is doing.  Finally, this kiddo is GROWING!  He is just a few ounces shy of 17 pounds and I am not sure how long.  He fits perfectly into 9 month onsies and will soon be moving onto 12 month clothes!  That being said it is probably obvious that he is a very good nurser.  I am so thrilled that all the problems with Z nursing are nonexistent with Declan.  It is so nice to not have to juggle bottles and boobies. :)

The Bad: I am grateful to only have one issue to report, but boy is it a doozie...SLEEP!  Declan is still waking up multiple (and I mean like 5-8) times a night.  He also stinks at napping.  I worked so hard to ensure that Z was a good napper and ALWAYS kept him on a schedule and was home at EVERY nap.  I don't have that luxury with Declan and we are not making any headway on his horrible sleep.  I think he is often overtired as he will start to have a nap and then have a eager big brother screaming nearby.  I believe in the whole sleep begets sleep theory and unfortunately we can't ever get there.  This month we are going to try our hardest to try out some of those sleep training theories.  However, with my happy man on our hands I can't get too upset b/c he seems to function better than I do, and definitely better then Z, on his minimal sleep.

And now for the fun stuff, his five month pictures:

 I had to add one more cute one of Declan. :)

Here is a picture of Z at 5 months in the same onsie and on the same blanket!